A Quick Trip to Memory Lane

With horse of the year on the line in the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, it was Affirmed versus Spectacular Bid, but the battle within that battle was Laffit Pincay Jr. versus Bill Shoemaker. It was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that these Hall of Fame jockeys would be going head to head.

But their rivalry reached a crescendo at Belmont on Oct. 6, 1979. Spectacular Bid had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, then been upset by Coastal in the Belmont Stakes and his rider, the erratic Ron Franklin, had been fired in favor of Shoemaker.

Pincay also had joined the Affirmed team after the 1978 Triple Crown champion’s reputation had been established. In February 1979 at Santa Anita, Pincay replaced the slumping Steve Cauthen on Affirmed, and they had won six consecutive races going into the Gold Cup, which drew only four horses, one of them Coastal.

According to the weight-for-age conditions of the 1 1/2-mile race, Affirmed was spotting Spectacular Bid five pounds. Even so, Shoemaker knew his colt was in trouble from the start.

“The horse didn’t break the way I thought he would,” Shoemaker said recently, while waiting with other Hollywood Park fans for Pincay to break his record for wins.

Breaking from the No. 3 post, just outside of Spectacular Bid, Affirmed and Pincay got the jump, and they were never headed, beating Spectacular Bid by three-quarters of a length. Coastal finished three lengths behind Spectacular Bid.

“Besides the start, I was also boxed in most of the way,” Shoemaker said. “They ran awfully slow early. The first quarter was run in 25 [seconds] flat. If I could have gotten to the outside, I would have pushed my horse more.”

Three years later, at Santa Anita, Pincay and Shoemaker were combatants again. The 1982 Santa Anita Handicap was cloaked with special historical significance. Since the stake’s first running in 1935, no horse had won it twice. John Henry, ridden by Pincay, had won in 1981, en route to a horse-of-the-year title.

For the ’82 Big ‘Cap, Shoemaker was John Henry’s rider, and Pincay was aboard Perrault, who was trying to give trainer Charlie Whittingham his sixth win in the stake. Racing secretary Frank “Jimmy” Kilroe and his staff piled 130 pounds on John Henry and assigned 126 pounds to Perrault.

A longshot, Sir Dancer, set a brisk pace while Perrault and John Henry, the 13-10 favorite, waited to pounce in the middle of the 11-horse pack.

At the head of the stretch, Perrault moved to the front, inside of John Henry, but Shoemaker’s mount was only beginning to fight.

“Laffit’s horse just gradually kept coming out and out all through the stretch,” Shoemaker said. “There was never a lot of contact between the horses, if there was any at all, but they just kept carrying me and John Henry to the outside. About 70 yards before the wire, Laffit hit his horse left-handed with the whip, and he veered a little. If that hadn’t happened so late, I think the stewards would have left it alone.”

Perrault won by a nose, but the stewards hung up the “inquiry” sign and disqualified Pincay’s mount in favor of John Henry. Whittingham was livid. Earlier this year, he went to his grave believing that two things beat Perrault: Pincay’s repeated left-hand whipping and John Henry’s reputation. “Any other horse, they don’t move him up,” Whittingham once grumbled.

There was one more Santa Anita Handicap that really did have Pincay’s name on it. In 1986, he won the race for the fifth time when Greinton--trained by Whittingham--romped home.

Shoemaker, who was 34 and had already ridden more than 5,000 winners, first saw the 19-year-old kid from Panama at the Chicago tracks in 1966.

“You could see he had a lot of natural ability,” Shoemaker said. “I remember saying to people, ‘That kid’s going to be a champion rider some day.’ I just knew that he had it.”

Shoemaker also remembers Pincay’s temper from the early years. The two of them never fought, but Shoemaker recalled at least three post-race altercations involving Pincay and other jockeys.

“Once at Hollywood Park, and a couple times across town [at Santa Anita],” Shoemaker said. “He was young and rambunctious in those days. I can’t remember the jocks he fought, but I always felt sorry for them. He was strong as a bull, and he wasn’t going to lose many fights.”

The word “natural” is the same adjective that Pincay uses for Shoemaker.

“He was a natural,” Pincay said. “A lot of horses that I couldn’t make win, Shoe would get on them and win.”

At 5 feet 1, Pincay is two inches taller than Shoemaker, who rode at 95 pounds, about 22 less than Pincay.

“Shoe didn’t have my strength,” Pincay said. “I’m surprised that he won as much as did, considering he didn’t have my strength.”

Shoemaker has been in Pincay’s corner since it appeared that his record of 8,833 was breakable.

“Laffit’s a true professional,” Shoemaker said. “He’s been dedicated to winning races for more than 30 years, and I know the struggle he’s had with weight most of the time. I knew that when he got to within 200 or 300 wins, if he stayed healthy he’d have a real good shot. There’s not a more deserving guy to break the record.”

Not long ago, a slumping Pincay emerged from the doldrums and started winning races in bunches again. Shoemaker, visiting the jockeys’ room, saw Pincay before the races.

“You’re riding real good again,” Shoemaker said. “I don’t know exactly what it is you’re doing different, but whatever it is, it’s working. Keep it up.”